Join the Rescue Mission

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

LUKE 19:10

 

PONDER THIS

I heard of a tragic event. A father went to the hospital to pick up his newborn baby and wife. He left the automobile running with the keys in the car, and their three-year-old in the back seat. Then, someone came to steal the car; later, they found the car abandoned, but they couldn’t find the boy, so people set out to find him. One man who joined the hunt thought, “Maybe the little boy just got out of the car and is somewhere in the vicinity of where the car was abandoned.” He began to shine a flashlight up and down alleys. There was an old house with a swing and on the swing were some newspapers. He shined the light on the newspapers and saw some movement.

He cried out, “Billy! Billy!” Billy said, “Is that you, daddy?” And this man praised the name of God. He said, “No, Billy, I’m not your daddy, but I’m here to take you to your daddy.” Friend, that’s the job of the church—to rescue the perishing, to seek them out, to find them, to bring them to Him. For this cause, Jesus came into the world.

Who pointed you to God as your Father?

What are some ways we point others in His direction?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to point someone else toward God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Power to Profess Christ

With great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:33)

If our ministry is to witness to Christ tomorrow in some unsympathetic situation, the key will not be our brilliance; the key will be abundant future grace.

Of all people, the apostles seemed to need least help to give a compelling witness to the risen Christ. They had been with him for three years. They had seen him die. They had seen him alive after the crucifixion. In their witnessing arsenal they had “many proofs” (Acts 1:3). You would think that, of all people, their ministry of witnessing, in those early days, would sustain itself on the strength of the past glories that were still so fresh.

But that is not what the book of Acts tells us. The power to witness with faithfulness and effectiveness did not come mainly from memories of grace; it came from new arrivals of “great grace.” “Great grace was upon them all.” That’s the way it was for the apostles, and that’s the way it will be for us in our ministry of witnessing.

Whatever added signs and wonders God may show to amplify our witness to Christ, they will come the same way they came for Stephen. “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). Grace was arriving from God for all that Stephen needed — eventually all that he would need to die.

There is an extraordinary future grace and power that we may bank on in the crisis of special ministry need. It is a fresh act of power by which God “bore witness to the word of his grace” (Acts 14:3; see also Hebrews 2:4). The ever-arriving grace of power bears witness to the ever-given grace of truth.

John Piper 

Ministry — More Important Than Life

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:24)

According to the New Testament, “ministry” is what all Christians do. According to Ephesians 4:11–12, pastors have the job of equipping the saints for the work of ministry. But ordinary Christians are the ones who do the ministry.

What ministry looks like is as varied as Christians are varied. It’s not an office like elder or deacon; it’s a lifestyle devoted to making much of Christ and meeting the needs of others.

It means that we “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Whether we are bankers or bricklayers, it means that we aim at advancing other people’s faith and holiness to the glory of God.

Fulfilling your ministry is more important than staying alive. This conviction is what makes the lives of radically devoted people so inspiring to watch. Most of them speak the way Paul did about his ministry here in Acts 20:24: “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus.” Doing the ministry that God gives us to do is more important than life.

You may think you need to save your life in order to do your ministry. On the contrary, how you lose your life may be the capstone of your ministry. It certainly was for Jesus — only in his thirties.

We need not fret about keeping ourselves alive in order to finish our ministry. God alone knows the appointed time of our service. He will decide when our death is not an interruption of our ministry, but the last act of our ministry.

Henry Martyn was right when he said, “If [God] has work for me to do, I cannot die.” In other words, I am immortal until my work is done. Therefore, ministry is more important than life.

John Piper 

What Moves You to Minister?

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)

Faith has an insatiable appetite for experiencing as much of God’s grace as possible. Therefore, faith presses toward the river where God’s grace flows most freely, namely, the river of love.

What other force will move us out of our contented living rooms to take upon ourselves the inconveniences and suffering that love requires?

What will propel us . . .

to greet strangers when we feel shy?

to go to an enemy and plead for reconciliation when we feel indignant?

to tithe when we’ve never tried it?

to speak to our colleagues about Christ when we are timid?

to invite new neighbors to a Bible study?

to cross cultures with the gospel?

to create a new ministry for alcoholics?

to spend an evening driving a van?

to invest a morning praying for renewal?

None of these costly acts of love just happens. They are impelled by a new appetite — the appetite of faith for the fullest experience of God’s grace. We want more of God. And we want this more than we want our private, disturbance-free security and comfort.

Faith loves to rely on God and see him work miracles in us. Therefore, faith pushes us into the current where the power of God’s future grace flows most freely — the current of love.

I think this is what Paul meant when he said that we should sow to the Spirit (Galatians 6:8). By faith, we should put the seeds of our energy in the furrows where we know the Spirit is at work to bear fruit — the furrows of love.

John Piper 

We Experience the Spirit Through Faith

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:5)

Every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul said, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9). The Spirit came to you the first time when you believed in the blood-bought promises of God. And the Spirit keeps on coming, and keeps on working, by this same means.

So Paul asks, rhetorically in Galatians 3:5, “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” Answer: “By hearing with faith.”

Therefore, the Spirit came the first time, and the Spirit keeps on being supplied, through the channel of faith. Whatever he accomplishes in and through us is by faith.

If you are like me, you may have strong longings from time to time for the mighty working of the Holy Spirit in your life. Perhaps you cry out to God for the outpouring of the Spirit in your life or in your family or church or city. Such cries are right and good. Jesus said, “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).

But what I have found most often in my own life is the failure to open myself to the full measure of the Spirit’s work by believing the specific promises of God. I don’t mean merely the promise that the Spirit will come when we ask. I mean all the other precious promises that are not directly about the Spirit but, perhaps, about God’s provision for my future — for example, “My God will supply every need of yours” (Philippians 4:19). God’s Spirit is supplied in an ongoing and powerful way precisely through specific acts of faith in specific promises for specific situations. Do I trust him right now to do what he has promised to do?

This is what is missing in the experience of so many Christians as they seek the power of the Spirit in their lives. The Spirit is supplied to us “by hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5) — not just faith in one or two promises about the Spirit himself, but about all the soul-satisfying presence of God in our future to do for us, and be for us, whatever we need.

John Piper 

Don’t Reject the Truth

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

HEBREWS 6:4-6

 

PONDER THIS

This passage tells us it is impossible to renew some people to repentance. It is absolutely, totally, one hundred percent impossible that these people could ever repent and get right with God. Who are they? These are people who were enlightened; their eyes were opened. These are people who have tasted the power of the Word of God. The writer was not talking about people who have been saved and then lose their salvation. He meant people who come to the very brink of salvation, who with their eyes wide open, crucify Jesus again, so to speak. They refuse Christ, they trample the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ beneath their feet. And they know what they're doing—they do this after they know the truth.

What warning is there in this passage?

What good news is there for those who read this passage and are struck by the truth?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time this week to share the truth of the Gospel with another person. Pray that God will do what only He can.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Don’t Keep the Gospel to Yourself

“Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words.” PROVERBS 1:20-21

 

PONDER THIS

The invitation of wisdom is a public invitation, not just to a chosen few. God loves all people and wisdom speaks to all people. The voice of the Bible is for whosoever will come. Some people join secret societies to gain certain knowledge—things other people are not supposed to know. But if it’s so good, you ought to give it away to everybody. Jesus said He had done nothing in secret (John 18:20). Friend, if it’s wonderful and good, it ought to be public and for anyone. I’m so grateful that the Lord God loves the whole wide world.

Do you know what the Bible says? In Matthew 10:27, Jesus said, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.” Let the whole world know that Jesus saves and that the invitation of wisdom is a public invitation. We hear people say, “keep the faith.” Not only should you keep it, but you also ought to give it away. As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t want to give it away, you ought to give it up, because what you have is not real. You’ll never convince me that you know the real joy of the Lord Jesus if you do not want to share it.

Why must our faith be one we long to give away?

How has God “given away” the truth about Himself? How has that changed your life?

PRACTICE THIS

Select a specific person to whom you want to give the faith away. Take action toward sharing the truth of the Gospel with that person.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Seeing Your Child Through God’s Eyes

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

DEUTERONOMY 6:6-7

 

PONDER THIS

Did you know Thomas Edison was sent home from school because his teacher said he was too dumb? Do you know what his mama said? His mama said, “I know my boy and he is not stupid. He’s smart. I’ll teach him myself.” And she did. The problem was that the teacher couldn’t realize how smart the boy was, not that he was dumb. You see, every child is different. Parents know the unique proclivities in their children. See your child as unique before God and learn to communicate with your child creatively. Your child is made in God’s image. God has gifted you with the ability to discover the best way to communicate spiritual truth to your child. Do not neglect to disciple your children in the unique ways that only you can.

What are some of the unique things about the children in your life?

How might you disciple the children in your life according to their unique attributes?

PRACTICE THIS

Brainstorm ways you might disciple children in your life according to their unique makeup. Decide on some first steps and take action.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Who Would Die for a Lie?

“Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.” 1 CORINTHIANS 15:15

 

PONDER THIS

Were the disciples liars? Were they deceivers? If so, why? Why would they deceive? Why would they lie? What gain did they have if Jesus Christ was still in the grave? They died as martyrs. They were tortured, they were persecuted, they were burned at the stake, they were eaten by lions, they were stoned, they were crushed, and they were humiliated.

Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff! People tell lies to get out of trouble, not to get into trouble. A man may live for a lie, but few, if any, men will willingly die for a lie. The disciples said, “We have seen Him! We have touched Him!” Are you going to tell me Simon Peter was a con man? That John the apostle was a crook? That the apostle Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, was a known perjurer, deceiver, and a false witness? Of course not. But if Christ is still in the grave, preaching is profitless, faith is foolish, and the disciples would have been deceivers.

How does the willingness to die for the truth of the Gospel give a witness to the credibility of the Gospel to the world?

Is there something or somewhere that you would consider “too far” to go for the Gospel? How might you submit this before God?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to ask God what you are holding back from complete submission to Him. Ask Him to help you let that go.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Jesus Will Finish the Mission

“This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

I don’t know any more inspiring missionary promise than this word from Jesus.

Not: This gospel should be preached.

Not: This gospel might be preached.

But: This gospel will be preached.

This is not a great commission, nor a great commandment. It is a great certainty, a great confidence.

Who can dare talk like that? How does he know it will? How can he be sure the church will not fail in its missionary task?

Answer: The grace of missionary service is as irresistible as the grace of regeneration. Christ can promise universal proclamation because he is sovereign. He knows the future success of missions because he makes the future. All the nations will hear!

A “nation” is not a modern “country.” When the Old Testament spoke of nations, it referred to groups like Jebusites and Perizites and Hivites and Amorites and Moabites and Canaanites and Philistines. “Nations” are ethnic groups with their own peculiar language and culture. Psalm 117:1: “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!” Nations are peoples — people groups, as we call them.

As the sovereign Son of God and Lord of the church, Jesus simply took up this divine purpose and stated as an absolute certainty, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matthew 24:14).

The cause of world missions is absolutely assured of success. It cannot fail. Is it not reasonable, then, that we pray with great faith, that we invest with great confidence, and that we go with a sense of sure triumph?

John Piper 

The Main Purpose of Ministry

We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:39)

Don’t look at the temporary cost of love, and shrink back from confidence in God’s infinitely superior promises. If you shrink back, not only will you lose out on the promises; you will be destroyed.

Hell is at stake in whether we shrink back or persevere. It’s not just the loss of a few extra rewards that hangs in the balance. Hebrews 10:39 says, “We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed.” That is eternal judgment.

So, we warn each other: Don’t drift away. Don’t love the world. Don’t start thinking nothing huge is at stake. Fear the terrible prospect of not cherishing the promises of God above the promises of sin. As Hebrews 3:13–14 says, “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

But mainly we must focus on the preciousness of the promises and help each other value above all things how great the reward is that Christ has purchased for us. We must say to each other what Hebrews 10:35 says: “Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” And then we must help each other see the greatness of the reward.

That is the main task of preaching, and the main purpose of small groups and all the ministries of the church: helping people see the greatness of what Christ has purchased for everyone who will value it above the world. Helping people see it and savor it, so that God’s superior worth shines in their satisfaction and in the sacrifices that come from such a heart.

John Piper

Don’t Do God’s Work Without God’s Voice

“Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”

ACTS 5:20

 

PONDER THIS

The apostles had a command from God. The reason they took action is because they’d been told to do so. All true obedience is informed obedience. You must hear from God in order to obey God. Don’t do things just because you want to do them and think you’re living the Christian life. What God doesn’t initiate, God doesn’t appreciate. God is going to tell you what to do. And God has never promised to bless any endeavor that He has not commanded.

How can we know what God wants us to do?

How is regular time spent in God’s Word and in prayer connected to knowing what He wants us to do?

PRACTICE THIS

Take inventory. Consider the things you are doing because you feel God clearly called you to do them as well as those things you are doing according to your own desires. Seek to submit every area of your life to Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Boldness Begins with Empty Hands

“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.”

ACTS 4:29

 

PONDER THIS

The word “servant” here is the Greek word that means “bond slave.” Are you a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ? I try to make it a habit every day to lift my hands in surrender to the Lord. To say to the Lord, “I am Your servant.” Boldness is not for rebels. You will never have boldness, true boldness, until you can say, “Now, Lord, grant to Your bondservant—to Your slave—boldness.”

When you do that, the Holy Spirit of God will give you courage. You know, if there’s any unconfessed sin in your life, any area that is not surrendered, you’re not going to have boldness. But you can wake up and say, “There’s nothing between my soul and the Savior. Lord, I am Your servant. I am Your slave. Jesus is with me. God the Father is above me. Holy Spirit of God, You’re within me. Grant me boldness to declare Your Word.”

What remains in your life that you need to surrender to God today?

How is that thing acting as an obstacle to boldness in your life?

PRACTICE THIS

Write down the things you need to surrender to God. Pray over these things, asking Him to help you surrender to Him and to receive bold obedience to Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Holy Boldness Really Looks Like

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” ACTS 4:13

 

PONDER THIS

Are you a bold believer? Or are you a cowardly Christian? Do you want to be a bold believer? What is boldness in the first place? Boldness is not arrogance. It’s not the ability to put your finger in somebody’s face and to tell them off. Boldness is not being rude or crude. Some people think they are bold but they’re just arrogant, and they have bad manners. That’s not boldness. Those people turn more people away from Jesus than they bring to the Lord Jesus. We’re to be gentle, apt to teach, and not seeking to give offense. Don’t think that if you go around getting in people’s faces that you’re necessarily bold.

Rudeness is not boldness. Boldness is having the courage to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ in the face of opposition.

How might you have had a wrong view of boldness in the past?

What would it look like for you to display godly boldness?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of people you know who are bold for Christ. Consider what makes them bold and how you might learn from and follow their example.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When God Asks You to Do the Impossible

 “‘But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” ACTS 1:8

 

PONDER THIS

The mission Jesus gave to the disciples must have seemed impossible. Look at them—a little group of ragtag apostles, some of them fishermen. Most of them didn’t have any education. They had no seminaries. They had no finances. They had no prestige. They had no political pull. And yet they were commanded to go into all the world and tell the message of a Galilean peasant who died on a cross, crucified by the Roman government. This was mission impossible.

Not only did they not have the credentials, but they were also up against impossible foes. There was the imperial might of the iron legions of Rome. There was the intellectual sophistry of the Greeks. There was the religious bigotry of the Jewish religion. And here they were. This reads like a magnificent novel, but it is absolutely true. It is the story of the Church triumphant.

What feels impossible in your life right now?

How is the story of the Early Church an encouragement in this regard?

PRACTICE THIS

Write down the things you are facing that seem impossible. Pray over these things, confessing that all things are possible with God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Christmas Model for Missions

“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18)

Christmas is a model for missions. Missions is a mirror of Christmas. As I, so you.

For example, danger. Christ came to his own and his own received him not. So you also. They plotted against him. So you. He had no permanent home. So you. They trumped up false charges against him. So you. They whipped and mocked him. So you. He died after three years of ministry. So you.

But there is a worse danger than any of these which Jesus escaped. So you!!

In the mid-16th century the missionary Francis Xavier (1506–1552), wrote to Father Perez of Malacca (today part of Malaysia) about the perils of his mission to China. He said,

The danger of all dangers would be to lose trust and confidence in the mercy of God. . . . To distrust him would be a far more terrible thing than any physical evil which all the enemies of God put together could inflict on us, for without God’s permission neither the devils nor their human ministers could hinder us in the slightest degree.

The greatest danger a missionary faces is not death but to distrust the mercy of God. If that danger is avoided, then all other dangers lose their sting.

In the end God makes every dagger a scepter in our hand. As J.W. Alexander says, “Each instant of present labor is to be graciously repaid with a million ages of glory.”

Christ escaped this danger — the danger of distrusting God. Therefore God has highly exalted him! As he, so you.

Remember this Advent that Christmas is a model for missions. As I, so you. And that mission means danger. And the greatest danger is distrusting God’s mercy. Succumb to this and all is lost. Conquer here and nothing can harm you for a million ages.

John Piper 

Prepare the Way

“He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17)

What John the Baptist did for Israel, Advent can do for us. Don’t let Christmas find you unprepared. I mean spiritually unprepared. Its joy and impact will be so much greater if you are ready!

So, that you might be prepared . . .

First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior. Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight. “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). If you don’t need a Savior, you don’t need Christmas. Christmas will not have its intended effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. Let these short Advent meditations help awaken in you a bittersweet sense of need for the Savior.

Second, engage in sober self-examination. Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24). Let every heart prepare him room . . . by cleaning house.

Third, build God-centered anticipation and expectancy and excitement into your home — especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.

Fourth, be much in the Scriptures, and memorize the great passages! “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:29)! Gather ’round that fire this Advent season. It is warm. It is sparkling with colors of grace. It is healing for a thousand hurts. It is light for dark nights.

John Piper 

Whose Life Are You Pouring Into?

“To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.” TITUS 1:4

 

PONDER THIS

Are you a trophy of grace? Not only are we to be witnesses, but we are also to be a part of the evidence. Titus was evidence. Paul introduced his son in the faith as evidence of what God had done. Do you have any children in the faith? Is there anybody you’ve introduced to Jesus? You can't do anything more wonderful than share your faith and bring somebody else to Jesus Christ. Billy Graham is a famous name who has impacted many of us in our faith. But not many of us know the person who shared the Gospel with Billy Graham. You never know the ripple that will touch the shore of eternity when you drop a stone of grace into somebody's heart.

Do you have any trophies of grace? Are you a trophy of grace? This is something we can seek in our relationship with God. We can look for opportunities to listen to people when they are hurting and seek to share the hope of Christ. By God’s grace and with a heart that is ready to share this good news, you will have children in the faith.

Who has poured into you and your faith? What are some of the things you have learned from them?

Who are those you have been able to teach or introduce to Jesus? How have you continued to pour into them?

PRACTICE THIS

Listen to someone who is hurting today. Seek to share the hope of Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Too Good to Keep Quiet

“…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.” ACTS 10:38-39

 

PONDER THIS

Peter said Jesus went about doing good. He performed miracles, and they were all good. Simon Peter witnessed so many of them. Jesus turned water into wine. He could say, “I drank some of it.” Jesus walked on water. He could say, “I saw Him do it.” Jesus raised a little girl from the dead, the daughter of Jairus. Peter could say, “I was there and saw Him.” Jesus healed the lepers. Peter could say, “I saw Him heal the lepers.” Peter and the disciples were witnesses of the virtuous life of the Lord Jesus. They were so transformed by Him that they wrote about it and spent their lives sharing about Him. There is not one attribute that is lacking in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was witnessing to a Jewish doctor one day, and I said, “Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah?” He responded, “No, we’re waiting for Messiah.” I asked, “My dear friend, why wait?” What could anyone have that would improve on Jesus Christ? How could you improve on the person of Jesus Christ? This news is too good; the person of Jesus is too great for us to keep to ourselves. We can respond like Peter and the disciples and invest our lives in sharing who He is.

How have you witnessed Jesus at work? Who have you shared Him with?

What are the stories of Jesus in your own life? Who can you share them with?

PRACTICE THIS

Share with someone else how you have witnessed Jesus work.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Breaking Free from “Me-ism”

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God . . .” 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-4

 

PONDER THIS

What is the tone of this age? It is cocooning, turning inward, living for self and self alone, as if Jesus Christ never lived and never died. Somebody has described it as “me-ism.” There’s a lot of that around. It is a problem in our world, but it also impacts and influences the Christian because it is so subtle and powerful. In our sinful nature, we have no problem focusing on ourselves. In so doing, we forget about our Savior and the sacrificial way He calls us to live.

What are people living for today? They’re living for what they can grab, not for what they can give. The Bible teaches that we’re to worship God, love people, and use things. But what we do is ignore God, love things, and use people.

We’re continually boasting of our human greatness and achievements. We invest in earthly things like our homes, wealth, and image. We ignore God most time and forget He is there until we go to church or hit a crisis in life. We use people to get what we want instead of serving them in the sacrificial way Jesus called us to. We need to be called back to a life focused on Christ.

What does it look like to have a life focused inward? What are some ways selfishness is evident in your life?

What happens when we live a life turned inward? How can one live a life focused on Christ?

PRACTICE THIS

Serve someone else today and share the love of Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers